just got Tharan but hes worse than Qyzen

[coolmccoolson]

Does he normally suck at first and then become a good healer? Because hes not keeping me alive.

 

Im level 25 and had most of my points under Kinetic, I was unable to kill a gold boss, always dying a few hits away from beating him. I pulled out Qyzen and easily beat him since Qyzen took most of the damage and takes forever to kill, not to mention has decent attacking. When I was the tank Tharan wasnt healing me enough at all and was barely damaging anything.

 

Does Tharan need to be a certain level before he heals well? Better equipment? Or am I not a high enough level to be a good tank? I respecced to Balance and will see if that works better.

[Seireeni]

Gear him up, it probably will help. Though, from my experience with tanks, unless they are really, really good geared, they aren't that much better than dps in terms of survivality before level 30 or so.

 

My sage is a healer, so I don't really use Tharan, but all of the other healer comps I have used have been fine. So I don't think Tharan is useless, either.

[UltimateKrucible]

It's because he dislikes violence - he may even tell you he's a pacifist, at some point. I forget where. Edited June 3, 2013 by UltimateKrucible

[LordAragore]

I've only used Tharan on my Shadow. He's a good healer, and Holiday CC's mobs.

[ezrafetch]

It shouldn't be an issue of levels/gear. All healers since 2.0 have had their behaviors modified some, though, and use attacks more often, healing somewhat less. If this is causing your deaths, then turn off all of the DPS abilities (and the Holiday CC if you don't like that one either) and he will heal you much more often.

 

This is to say it also quite depends on the level of enemy mobs in comparison to you. If you're a couple levels higher than the mobs you're fighting, then regardless of what Tharan does you should likely still be blitzing through the content. If you're not, then I'd suggest looking into tactical changes (i.e. proper Mind Maze-ing, popping Deflection at better times) to make the fights as easy as possible. Or, just level up and return to the content. If you're doing most/all of the quests, there's no way you shouldn't be at least 2+ levels higher than the content you're on.

 

That being said, I'd honestly prefer running with Qyzen in DPS stance while staying in Combat Technique. You can juggle taunts to help with not dying, while maintaining a modicum of DPS. Regardless, running with Tharan/Qyzen will make for slower questing (which is unavoidable until your next companion, sadly).

 

However, if you have the Cartel Coins/credits and have him elsewhere, get HK-51 for sure. I've used him from the start leveling in Combat Technique and it's an absolute breeze (and I only discovered Assassinate at level 33, heh). You really only have to keep his MH barrel and a couple of other pieces upgraded relatively often (i.e. when you upgrade), and only need to overhaul his gear once every 20 levels (until you just give him his normal gear at 50).

 

It's because he dislikes violence - he may even tell you he's a pacifist, at some point. I forget where.

 

Or this. Tharan is the least likable companion, ever. I hate his guts all the way through. I refuse to level JC's not in Heal/Tank specs because that would entail using this pile of poop once you unlock him. No thanks, hombre.

Edited June 3, 2013 by ezrafetch

[coolmccoolson]

What should I gear him up with that increases healing? Cunning? I gave him the best barrel available, does his offhand gun matter?

 

My gear is already almost maxed out, orange chest/pants with the best armor plating for my level, bracers and gloves arent orange but pretty good.

 

I do a lot of buying and selling on GTN and am approaching 1m credits, so money doesnt really matter but I dont want to waste it for a few extra points.

[MasterGladius]

Tharan is not in any way a DPS character. He is a healer, and nothing but. Back in they day, I leveled a shadow and life was good as a Kinetic spec with Tharan at my side. Of course, that was before the shadow's armor was doubly nerfed, so I can't really say much on that note, I'm afraid.

[GenXCub]

With Theran and a Kinetic spec, you should be finishing gold star guys with nearly 100% health. Do you interrupt their abilities? Do you use your stun? Do you use your knockback and then Telekinetic Throw so it takes longer for them to walk back to you? Is Kinetic Ward up all of the time?

[ezrafetch]

What should I gear him up with that increases healing? Cunning? I gave him the best barrel available, does his offhand gun matter?

 

My gear is already almost maxed out, orange chest/pants with the best armor plating for my level, bracers and gloves arent orange but pretty good.

 

I do a lot of buying and selling on GTN and am approaching 1m credits, so money doesnt really matter but I dont want to waste it for a few extra points.

 

Tharan uses Cunning. His OH acts as a statstick, so it will make some difference if you keep it upgraded. You're really only going to be able to find +Cunning, +Power at lvl25 though, in terms of stats useful to Tharan. Realistically though you don't need to keep him upgraded outside of every 5-7 levels.

 

It honestly sounds like if you're as twinked out as you are, you may need to adjust your tactics. Shadow CDs are short for a reason: use them. Be proactive in their usage. Pop Deflection, keep KW and FB up all the time (since you won't have Kinetic Bulwark you can just refresh it on CD). Use your CC liberally, but make sure if you Mind Maze a target, don't use FB and break that CC. Since you don't have the innate DR that Guardians and Vanguards have, at lower levels you do need to be much more tactical and conscious of the strategies you utilize.

Edited June 3, 2013 by ezrafetch

[Andar]

You may want to take a look at his configuration. Make sure he is in the right stance for heals and try disabling his dps abilities. I sometimes turn holiday's CC off, as it's channeled so time CCing a mob is time he is not healing you.

[Azreliam]

It's because he dislikes violence - he may even tell you he's a pacifist, at some point. I forget where.

 

Holiday, did you see me tell him that I'm a pacifist?!

[ScarletBlaze]

Does he normally suck at first and then become a good healer? Because hes not keeping me alive.

 

Im level 25 and had most of my points under Kinetic, I was unable to kill a gold boss, always dying a few hits away from beating him. I pulled out Qyzen and easily beat him since Qyzen took most of the damage and takes forever to kill, not to mention has decent attacking. When I was the tank Tharan wasnt healing me enough at all and was barely damaging anything.

 

Does Tharan need to be a certain level before he heals well? Better equipment? Or am I not a high enough level to be a good tank? I respecced to Balance and will see if that works better.

 

I have a level 55 Shadow and he is a great healer but you will need to keep his gear upgraded and I have noticed if you increase his affection he becomes better. Yes he can be a pain at some of the comments but I tend to ignore his comments when I am in a middle of a fight. I have even ignored the few times he tried to flirt.

 

I placed him in moded gear as soon as I could and just replaced the armoring, mods and enchancements.

Edited June 3, 2013 by ScarletBlaze

[Master-Nala]

A shadow tank should be able to solo all +2 Heroics and many +4s with Tharan and Holiday. I don't mean to sound like I'm saying L2P, but I really can't see the issue being with Tharan.

[Setalle]

It's because he dislikes violence - he may even tell you he's a pacifist, at some point. I forget where.

 

Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not..

 

I absolutely haaaaaaaate Tharan, because seemingly every other minute or so, he'll say "Did I mention I'm a pacifist?". It drives me absolutely crazy... YES Tharan! You've told me you're a pacifist, a thousand times! Shut uuuuuup!!! *force choke Tharan*

[Whojoo]

Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not..

 

I absolutely haaaaaaaate Tharan, because seemingly every other minute or so, he'll say "Did I mention I'm a pacifist?". It drives me absolutely crazy... YES Tharan! You've told me you're a pacifist, a thousand times! Shut uuuuuup!!! *force choke Tharan*

 

Only a thousand? What level are you?, 27?

 

Tharan is a great companion and I've had no trouble with him from start till end. Get him some moddable gear and keep it up to date. Doing so will give you time in fights to just stop fighting and think with which skill you want to take down the enemy.

[Ancaglon]

Holiday, did you see me tell him that I'm a pacifist?!

Only because they never suspect a scientist.

 

As has been said before, make sure he's on med watch stance -- and try toggling off his DPS stuff.

 

As with all companions, they get abilities as you (and they) level up, but even from Nar Shadda he was, for me, a very useful companion. You may not blow through packs as you might do with a DPS companion, but you can take on single champion mobs of equal level or a little higher with pretty high confidence of victory.

Edited June 4, 2013 by Ancaglon

[coolmccoolson]

I respecced to balance and am doing a lot better, I suppose Im not high enough level to effectively use kinetic. He doesnt have the Holiday ability yet, Im guessing that comes at level 30 or something.

[MasterGladius]

If you are doing well as Balance but not as Kinetic, then it seems to me that your biggest issue is either your play style, or that you didn't equip a shield generator when you went into Combat Technique stance. Kinetic is a solid tree from start to finish, but most especially from level 14+ (when you get Combat Technique). You should all but invincible with Tharan at your side.

[DarthSpekulatius]

If you are doing well as Balance but not as Kinetic, then it seems to me that your biggest issue is either your play style, or that you didn't equip a shield generator when you went into Combat Technique stance. Kinetic is a solid tree from start to finish, but most especially from level 14+ (when you get Combat Technique). You should all but invincible with Tharan at your side.

 

quote because nobody else has said it before in the whole thread.

first priority if you die over and over check your stance and your shield

(an indication would be that you always have 15stacks kinetic ward, if that's true it's either the Boss doing only internal damage and such (you'd be better of with a focus for those fights) or you made a mistake.

then look for a fault with Tharan he does and did just fine with me all the time I turned off his Stun nothing else (and I often had him in DPS stance without any Problems).

Edited June 5, 2013 by DarthSpekulatius

[Helig]

Or this. Tharan is the least likable companion, ever. I hate his guts all the way through. I refuse to level JC's not in Heal/Tank specs because that would entail using this pile of poop once you unlock him. No thanks, hombre.

Not necessarily. I run a DPS Guardian with Kira because I hate Doc. I run a Marauder with Vette because I dislike this weasel Quinn. I run Gunnery Commando+HK-51 just because.

 

No Ultimate-level gear (PvP gear actually), plowing through 55 H2s with no trouble.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Helig

[wmtyrance]

I'm new to the game too. But its true about gearing your companions up. Tharan is an awesome healing if you do. If you play it cheap then you will die alot.

[KayakoHikari]

whats the best companion to use on a dps shadow?

[MasterGladius]

whats the best companion to use on a dps shadow?

 

I think that largely depends on which tree you are in. Early on, as an infiltration you'll want Qyzen for taunts. After all, it is hard to backstab if you are tanking.

 

Balance will favor Tharan. Infiltration will too, once it gets Low Slash, but that is around 30 or so, I think.

[Kitru]

I think that largely depends on which tree you are in. Early on, as an infiltration you'll want Qyzen for taunts. After all, it is hard to backstab if you are tanking.

 

You shouldn't be using Shadow Strike for Infiltration until you hit ~26 (i.e. get Infiltration Tactics). As such, "early on" backstabbing isn't viable. When you *do* get Infiltration Tactics, Qyzen can't really keep threat reliably enough to actually justify using him as a tank to be able to use Shadow Strike on a regular basis (he'll lose threat to you pretty much any time he doesn't have the taunt debuff on the target, which is a lot of the time). Honestly, I would just run with Tharan when you get him. Either that or a DPS comp (especially Zenith since he actually has good AoE, which is always a problem for DPS Shadows).

[Kokkomo]

I am a Jedi Shadow, level 20. My companions are Qyzen Fess and C2-N2.

 

WHEN or which level will THARAN CEDRAX join me ?

 

Thanks.